Shenandoah Taupe

Paint issues persist. After some feedback on my idea of changing the brown wall to pink:

I've reconsidered. I stopped in to Benjamin Moore last night and checked their mistints rack. Shenandoah Taupe in eggshell stood out:

It's kind of a "greige" that's been trendy (which means it's about to go out as soon as I paint) but at $5 for a gallon, I figured what the hell and grabbed it.

Here are a pretty use of it I found on the web. I think it might work. Except, instead of just repainting the accent wall, I think I might do the whole room, again. Shoot me, please.

Drapery Hooks, or, I am an Idiot

I had not a clue what these were for:

Until the other night. Backstory: I had ordered some PB drapes for the living room. Because I'm not familiar with "nicer" drapes, I had no clue what the metal hooks that came with them were for. I knew they had something to do with attaching the drapes to the rod but beyond that I was stumped. So I hung my drapes with the ring clips I'd purchased and went on my merry way. it looked ok, but lacked the professional look of fancy-schmancy houses with big old fluffy decorator-hung drapes.

Here's what they looked right after I hastily hung them back in February:
See how the top looks all sloppy and just, well, sad? Not the result you want for such a lovely print.

I was lying on the sofa looking at the tops of the drapes as I am wont to do and it hit me like a ton of bricks: the hooks attach to the rings, which then attach to the rod. DUH! (And to think I am college grad.)

(Beware, here be bad nighttime with flash pics)

This is how you do it!! I guess if i were a perfectionist I would remove the clips but they don't show at all so why bother?

See, isn't that better? I hope someone learns from my idiocy!

The Parrots of CASA HV

Last week I talked about a great source for frameable prints - oversize calendars! The Taschen parrot 2010 is awesome and less than $6 on Amazon. Not kidding! It's printed on heavy, textured stock and is even perfed so you can tear off the calendar-y parts easily.

Here are my results:

The print's a bit of an awkward size - 13.5" x 16" so I went with a 16" x 20" floating frame from Target. No custom frame or mat required!

Hanging below is a framed piece of gift wrap (the flat sheets hanging on racks) from Paper Source. I've been hanging onto for years. It's a vintage map of Paris in an IKEA frame. I have another snippet of the same map hanging in the bedroom.


I'm 3 hours away from an IKEA, my usual source for affordable frames. But Target has some excellent options, too. Why pay more?

More is Not Enough

My name is Chelsea, and I have a problem with gallery walls. I want them all over the house. Apparently, this is a common thread between Jake and I since he has the man cave covered in show posters. Two walls of the bedroom are in progress/good enough. Above is my white-framed wall, the adjacent one is beige-toned art.

I feel bad because I see other bloggers meticulously planning gallery walls out, taping paper up before sinking a single nail. I prefer to let mine flow organically and add a new piece whenever I stumble across it. But that's they way I roll, design-wise. No mood boards, no swatches. Just throw it against the wall (sometimes literally) and see what works.

Patterns

So these drapes are making their way into my life. I kinda love them. A splurge for me, for sure, but sometimes you need a couple of *great* items to make a room rather than a bunch of blah junk.

Watch, when I finally get the to the PB outlet in SC in the next few months, they will be there for cheap. Ah, such is life.

I have never seen a toilet disguised as a chair before.

And now I have. Via NYtimes. The slideshow is a neat peak in to a high-end apartment in NYC renovated in the 1970s.

Hung

I decided to move some stuff around in the house and ended up filling one of the master bedroom walls with items with no other home at the moment. I need one more small thing to hang right above the chair and I'm calling it good.

Best part, this was all stuff I had already, so cost = nada!

Stick em Up

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After using some vinyl decals to spruce up the office at work, I started thinking how I could use them around the house. We're going to paint our hall bath this weekend so it will soon be ready for a few decorative touches. There are a lot of great options on etsy, as well as the usual suspect, blik. I'm leaning towards the cute birds in cages.

My ceramic pup!

Inspired by the kids over at YoungHouseLove, I set out to see if I could find me a doggy statuette. One of my favorite places to buy afforable accessories is Marshalls, specifically the clearance area. Sure, lots of the stuff is fug or broken but often they mark down really good stuff. Probably because they have a bunch of the same item. There were at least 2 of these bad boys at my local store marked down to $15 from $25.

Our owl collection lives in the china cabinet in the dining room, too. Our house is very heavily decorated in animal decor. We have a wall of dog paintings in the living room, bird prints in the office, ceramic squirrels and our owls. They fill the top shelf here and are starting to pour out in to other areas of the house, too.

We Had A Lassie

Bamboo magazine rack: free

Paint-by-Number from 1959: $1.50

Soft Scoop

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These elegant chairs would be perfect in the dining room but at $300 a pop they are not in the budget. I know I'll find something great at the thrift or yard sale but I need to be patient.

Like I Need a Hole in the Head

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Is how much I need another couch. But, But.
This is the Jonathan Adler sofa that would complete my living room.

Except in snow white.

Idea alert!

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I spied this on the Better Homes & Gardens website. I'm thinking of adding a bench at the foot of the guest bedroom. I like the way they used two step-tables as a bench and added a cushion. Clever! I have two of these tables that I could try this with straight away. Mine won't look nearly as cute but it might be worth a shot. I'll report back with results ASAP.

Dining Room wall

Ugh - this project turned into a pain in the neck. The chains are not totally straight and the paint bled under the tape. I'm going to try to fix it but it may not work so well. i am so impatient, I should have waited before I started to paint! Stay tuned to see if I fix it or just scrap it altogether.

My DIY attempt at Jonathan Adler style

My Saturday was consumed with this job. This is an open wall in the dining room that needed something. I was originally going to do stripes but I quickly discovered that stripes are really really hard to get straight so I decided to go for an easier to tape pattern. I like it! I ran out of tape yesterday so today I will grab more and finish it off.

More Living Room Changes

I hung a selection of our dog painting collection over the credenza. I need to get a few others re-framed before I hang them. I also hung drapes and took town the ugly plastic plantation blinds. From here the drapes look like silk but they are poly from JC Penney! I was surprised to find them; glad I didn't buy the Pottery barn ones I was eyeing on eBay.

The office is coming along...

Pondering Some Paint

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This wall treatment in


...this bathroom?

RIP Domino

I am very sad to learn that Domino is ceasing publication after the March issue. I really enjoyed it each month. Much of their items are out of my reach for budgetary reasons but it's a great source of inspiration.

New Furniture for Casa Hampton Valley

I came across this awesome china cabinet and matching buffet and mirror at a consignment store in Cary. Both were on sale so I went ahead and bought them! It has a bit of a glam/Hollywood Regency look to it. Not sure what kind of dining set will match...but I'll keep my eyes peeled!